Lumsdal
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
lflachbart
This movie was very captivating. It gave a good sense of what the times were like during the Holocaust, and what Jews had to go through to survive. It made you feel empathy the characters. The actors were very good at embracing their character and giving you a better sense of the characters personalities. In the book Anne didn't go into depth about her family's looks because she wasn't actually planning on anyone reading her journal. The movie gave a better perspective of her family without as much dialogue. I'm glad that I read the book before I watched the movie. The movie left out some of the smaller details the book was able to explain in more depth. I had to keep reminding myself that Anne's diary was first hand, and replace some of the missing details from knowledge from the book. The most intense scene was where there was a bombing going on outside of the Annex. You could feel the fear Anne's family was feeling. They felt trapped because there was nowhere "safer" for them to go, they just had to wait for the bombing to end and hope the Annex didn't get bombed.
Neil Doyle
The cramped existence that the Jewish hideouts were forced to endure during WWII and the Nazi period, is excellently portrayed by a cast of sensitive actors who were fortunate to have a good script to work with.Ellie Kendrick makes an excellent Anne, bearing a good resemblance to the Jewish girl who loved writing and kept a daily diary of events in the attic where her parents and a some other neighbors were forced to stay. Leslie Sharp and Nicholas Farrell as the Van Daans are particularly moving members of the strong cast.The gradual maturity of a girl confronting her feelings about boys as she grows up is portrayed in a poignant and tender manner. The story is compelling from the start and increases in intensity as various conflicts among the attic inhabitants arouse hostility and anger.What might have made the whole drama even more intense would be outdoor scenes outside the confines of the attic showing how the villagers were being treated by the Nazis, but since those incidents would be outside the scope of Anne's diary the drama remains intimate instead with a narrower focus.Well worth viewing even if you've seen the big screen version made by George Stevens in 1959.
shakermaker1984
This new TV adaption of the story of Anne Frank produced by BBC is what I had been looking forward to for a long time. However, after watching all of the five episodes this week, I felt a bit disappointed.As a big fan of Anne Frank all the time, certainly I have read her affecting diary that nearly everybody in the world knows about, as well as the memoir written by the attic-helper Miep Gies and the biography written by Melissa Muller. Besides this new BBC version, I also had watched three videos of her story before: one is a film and the other two are made for TV. The film adaption was made in 1959 by Americans, which is the first work about Anne on screen. Though I don't like this film at all since the cast and the set are far away from the truth in history, it still hold the value and importance for its first attempt of adapting her story. The second is a TV adaption made in 1988 by US, and compared to the film adaption, this one stepped forward quite much in any aspect. For the reason that it was mainly based on the memoir "Anne Frank Remembered" written by Miep Gies, this little-known TV adaption only adopted the view of Miep Gies and thus overlooked most of the details in the attic as well as the content of Anne's diary. The third one "Anne Frank: The Whole Story" is still a TV adaption made by Americans in 2001, despite the fact that most of the characters are from Britain. This is the only adaption I am totally satisfied with and I can't help to watch it over and over again. It is based on the biography of Anne Frank written by Melissa Muller and covers the whole life of our little Heroin including her joyful life before hiding, the hard days in the secrete attic and the tragic last period in the concentration camp. I have to say the cast and set of this adaption are so appropriate and exact that it is just as authentic as the history. The plot is intense, compelling and heart-warming, thereby making you feel like that you were trapped in the attic too and could be caught at any time.This new BBC adaption, however, is more like an English soap than a serious historical drama. Anyway, the little star Ellie Kendrick looks very witty and enchanting, but some of rest characters are quite boring especially her mother who looks just like suffering from the mental disease. Moreover, Mrs. Petronella Van Daan, her lips are always as red as cherry, and her untimely humor is extremely annoying and unnecessary. Even the Sergeant in the last episode looks so kind and so English that we can't think him as a Nazi devil. On the whole, this diary based adaption gets some improper humor and the act of some roles are a bit exaggerated in my opinion. It seems like they were threatening themselves deliberately rather than revealing the fear in their own heart naturally.
janpearce205
This was an utterly stunning piece of television. It kept my whole family absolutely gripped from Monday to Friday making us laugh, cry and think as we watched Anne's story unfold. Its real strength was the lack of sensationalism and romanticisation. The final episode was as nerve shredding as any thriller and totally heartbreaking. Anne was an irritating character at times with typical teenage behaviour. Her prodigious talent was in no doubt and the fact that she was otherwise normal actually made her seem that little bit more special. Ellie Kendrick was absolutely marvellous in the role of Anne. A real talent for the future without doubt. The other actors were equally superb with none of them striking a false note. This should be required viewing for everyone. Children, especially, will relate to Anne's humane and forthright views on everything including sex. I just hope that the moral majority in the US don't mess too much with that part of it because of that, as it is integral to the life of this exceptional person.
